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The fellow we met on the hill at the base of Preacher's Pass yesterday commented on how nice the weather has been here in Quartzsite...and hardly any wind! Well, I think he spoke too soon! The wind arrived with a vengeance this morning! It was also coming from a different direction...from the south/southeast...when it normally comes from the north/northwest.

The day began with a beautiful sunrise...

The wind started off as just a brisk breeze, so after our resistance exercises, I managed to get out for a powerwalk. Steve also filled the trailer with fresh water before the strong gusts started. By late morning, the wind was just howling and because of the direction, our awning and sun shade were taking a direct hit. Steve moved the truck over in an attempt to provide some protection. It helped for a bit but eventually the wind got too strong for the awning and we had to take the sun shade off and bring the awning in.

So we spent the rest of the day inside...we couldn't even leave the door open on this warm day because of the dust/sand storm going on outside. Steve took the vacuum apart...for some reason when we turn it on there is an awful smell coming from it. Although we can't figure out how, we are wondering if there is a dead mouse somewhere in there. He removed the Intervac built in central vac but he found nothing. It's a sealed unit so the only thing you can access are the filters so after wiping it all down, he put it all back together. He figured we should clean the hose, so he took it into the shower stall and poured a little bleach into it and filled it with water. After leaving it for awhile, we took it outside and "zap-strapped" it to the clothesline to dry. Tomorrow we will give it a try.

While Steve was busy with that, I worked on yesterday's blog and did some banking and budget work...and helped him out wherever I could. After that work was done, we basically just chilled inside...Steve was surfing the web and checking out some of the blogs he follows.

Okay...now I know that this is starting to sound monotonous...but we had yet another awesome day out on our ATV's today! We were ready to go at our usual time...10:00. There were 5 of us going on today's ride on 4 quads...Earl, Eric and Janet, Steve and I. We are going to ride over Preacher's Pass, a mountain pass near the community of Brenda, Arizona. It will be a long ride...probably about 60 miles/100 kms.

It was quite a ride just getting to the base of the mountains. Our first stop was on a hill at the base of Preacher's Pass trail...

There were 2 Trackers already there, so we had a nice chat with them...

A nice view from this hilltop spot...

...looking towards Preacher's Pass...

And we are on our way into the pass...

We made it to the top of Preacher's Pass where another couple (in a side-by-side) had stopped for lunch...they were sitting on a park bench (very cool that someone would have transported a bench way up here!)...

...someone had also dropped off a pumpkin, too funny!

Pack-rat midden made of Cholla Cactus stacked around a Staghorn Cactus. How they can accomplish this without getting stuck is a mystery...

Photo-op...Steve and I sitting on the bench...

The couple from the side-by-side are getting ready to leave...

Now it's our turn to take off...down the other side towards Brenda, AZ....

Steve and I stopped to find a geocache...

The others were waiting for us at this junction in the trails...now it was time to find a shady spot to have lunch...

We found this spot at the top of the hill in a rock quarry...(Eric, Janet and Earl)

This curious little fellow provided some entertainment as he decided to eat with us as well...

Now it's time to turnaround, go down the hill and then continue on the trail...(Janet and Eric)..

This is a hold-up...give me your cach...geocache! Haha! Another quick stop for a geocache along the trail...

Earl is looking for the trail that goes to a geocache that he hasn't found yet...let's go this way (to the right)...

Looks like it is the right trail....

Found it!

The geocache was near a Wildlife Guzzler...Guzzlers are storage tanks that are specifically designed to collect rain water and make it available to animals in dry regions of the country...

After finding that geocache, we figured we had better get our butts in gear and boogy towards home. It was after 2:30 and we probably had a 2 to 2 1/2 hour ride ahead of us!

Beautiful views...

We stopped for a break...near a geocache...so had to go find it. This one was difficult in that we couldn't get at it due to all of the branches...we could see it, just getting it out was a challenge. But with ingenuity...and the help of a couple of long pieces of wood, Steve and Earl finally managed to get it out. Earl put it back in a spot that was a little bit easier to reach....

Time to go under the I-10 highway...

...oops, wrong trail...we had to turn around and come back through...

As it turns out, that trail under the highway was the right trail. Oh well, we'll just have to ride these steep, rocky trails that run next to the I-10 and until we get to the other freeway crossing...

Here we go...under the I-10 again...

We got back home just after 4:30...another amazing day! Time to relax with a cold brew...

It was the first evening that we could comfortably sit outside after the sun went down behind the mountains...it was still quite warm out! A lovely sunset tonight!

Banff

About Us

We married in 1982 and our sons, Rob and Chris were born in 1983 and 1985. In 1990 we built our dream home in North Saanich just north of Victoria BC on 1.21 acres. We both had long careers, Dianne in Human Resources and Steve as Branch Manager for a controls systems wholesaler.
Steve always felt that there were no guarantees in life as far as health and mortality went, so we planned to retire early and RV full-time.
In late 2009 we began the build process on our custom Toy Hauler truck, taking delivery in early 2010. We moved into our new Montana 5th wheel in Feb 2010, living in it for 4 months while still working. In May 2010 we purchased 2 Yamaha Grizzly 550 ATVs. We're ready!
Just shy of our 55th birthdays, on June 25, 2010 we retired and started our life as gypsies.
We prefer dry camping (boondocking), getting as far away from civilization as possible. However, our size limits us from getting into all of those remote areas. Good thing we have the ATVs to explore with.